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MILAN, Italy — Once again, Christian Pulisic finds himself with something to prove at AC Milan. Maybe it shouldn’t be this way.
He leads the Rossoneri in goal contributions with 12, after notching 20 last season behind only Olivier Giroud, who left for Major League Soccer in 2024. Off the ball, the U.S. international gets nothing but praise for his work rate and application. His former assistant coach calls him “one of the best professionals I worked with in my career.”
Yet it was Pulisic who was the first player taken off the pitch on Tuesday night when Milan crashed out of the Champions League against Feyenoord. The score was 1-1 on aggregate at the time, and barely an hour had elapsed.
Last October, it was Pulisic — the club’s designated penalty taker — who was usurped twice in a defeat away to Fiorentina, first by Theo Hernández and then by Tammy Abraham, both of whom ended up missing their spot-kicks. Paulo Fonseca, Milan’s coach at the time, was left fuming.
And it’s Pulisic — who many believe is probably most effective as a left winger — who has had to adapt his game time and again.
In his first Milan season, Pulisic played mostly wide right, since the left wing belonged to Rafael Leão. Earlier this campaign, Fonseca used him in the No. 10 role behind the center-forward and he was productive, as evidenced by his goals and assists. But Fonseca was replaced by Sérgio Conceição in late December and a month later, Milan signed João Félix from Chelsea and played him at the No. 10 spot instead. And so Pulisic was on the move again, shifting back to the right wing.
It feels counterintuitive. Teams, in any sport, usually build around their most productive players. You can understand (perhaps) prioritizing Leão, a hugely talented player with a huge upside, on the left flank in the hope he fulfills his massive potential. But adding João Félix and shifting Pulisic once more is more difficult to explain. Of the many things that needed fixing at Milan, Pulisic’s performances at No. 10 weren’t high on the list.
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Marcotti slams Theo Hernández after AC Milan’s UCL exit
Gab Marcotti slams Theo Hernández after he was sent off in AC Milan’s draw with Feyenoord in the Champions League.
“I think his best position is at No. 10 because he is a player with the ability to operate in tight, congested areas — that’s why we put him there,” says Tiago Leal, who was Fonseca’s assistant coach. “Technically, he is top level, he can make a difference in traffic, he has a high football IQ and is a really smart player. On the other hand, a player like Rafa [Leão] needs space in which to run to be at his best. But honestly, even if Rafa wasn’t there, I’d play Pulisic at No.10, closer to the goal, in the heart of the game.”
It’s a big part of the reason why Fonseca redesigned Milan in a 4-2-3-1 formation, moving away from Stefano Pioli’s preferred 4-3-3. Sérgio Conceicão kept the 4-2-3-1 set-up, but placed João Félix at the No. 10. Like Pulisic and Leão, he’s another hugely talented player — when he moved from Benfica to Atlético Madrid as a 19-year-old in 2019, it was for a fee of $130 million, third highest ever at the time — albeit one whose gifts only shine intermittently: he hasn’t made more than 18 league starts in a season since his debut year at Atlético and his parent club, Chelsea, were more than happy to let him leave on loan.
“For me, Pulisic can play on the right. He did it under Pioli, he is humble and he is a great professional, so he can play a lot of positions,” Tiago Leal says. “But if you ask me, it’s a waste of his talent.”
“Pulisic is a problem solver, both when his team has possession and when they don’t,” he adds. “The stereotype is that attacking players of his level are a little bit selfish, they don’t work as hard out of possession, that they put themselves first. I think it’s a stereotype — look at Mohamed Salah and how hard he works, for example, and he is the star of Liverpool — but for some players it’s true. Not Pulisic. He’s the opposite, he is a team-oriented guy and his work rate is incredible.”
The contrast between what Pulisic — and Milan’s new center forward, Mexican forward Santi Gimenez — offer defensively with what João Félix and Leão give you is evident. It’s no coincidence that the former couldn’t get consistent playing time at Atletico Madrid, Barcelona (where he went on loan) or in his two stints at Chelsea, while Leão was benched on several occasions by Fonseca. Situations like these make you wonder if Pulisic might not be better off being more of a pain in the backside in order to play where he fits best.
One veteran title-winning Serie A assistant coach who did not wish to be identified suggested that if he were Pulisic’s coach, his professionalism, adaptability and versatility would be a good thing only because it serves the team. But in terms of his star power and visibility, maybe he’d be better off being more demanding and egotistical. Sometimes, squeaky wheels get the grease and it doesn’t pay to be a good egg all the time. Stars don’t get moved around like furniture and he’s a star.
Pulisic’s position in Milan’s starting XI is not under threat. It can’t be, given his offensive production. And unlike João Félix and Leão, who sometimes disappear when the opponent is in possession, the U.S. international still always puts in a defensive shift even when things aren’t working for him on the ball, and coaches simply can’t afford to carry multiple passengers.
That said, Leão is the guy with the huge long-term contract as Milan’s highest-paid player. They’ve staked their chips on him and are all-in — at least for now. And João Félix — who is on loan only through the end of the season, but has already expressed his desire to make the move permanent — seems to be Sérgio Conceição’s pet project: he has known him since he was a teenager, when he roomed with his oldest son, Rodrigo. (They also share the same agent, Jorge Mendes.)
Where does that leave Pulisic? Out wide on the right. And mad as it sounds when you’re the team’s leading goal contributor, apparently needing to prove something all over again.